Can body shaping machine



June 12, 1934. M. DODGE CAN BODY SHAPING MACHINE Filed March 21. 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet l L G D w m mm L n m A w w mm N \R June 12, 1934. DODGE CAN BODY SHAPING MACHINE Filed March 21 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 M 3 0 ML? N W E ATTORNEY June 12, 1934.

M. L. DODGE CAN BODY SHAPING MACHINE Filed March 21. 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 6 INVENTOR ATTORNEY June 12, 1934. M. L. DODGE CAN BODY SHAPING MACHINE Filed March 21. 1932 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 INVENTOR NERm/Y Z. 000 65 QE W ATTORNEY Patented June 12, i934 (JAN BODY SHAPING MACHINE Merton L. Dodge, Seattle, Wash, assignor to Continental Can Company, Inc., New York, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application March 21,

9 Glaims.

This invention relates to machines for shaping can bodies and it has reference in particular to certain improvements in the machine described and illustrated in the pending application of M. M. Sedwick, filed on January 12, 1931, under Serial No. 508,347.

In order to facilitate the shipping or storage of can bodies constructed to be formed into cylindrical bodies, it is desirable to initially form the bodies in a flattened elliptical shape permitting them to be packed together in a relatively small space for shipment or storage.

The machine of the Sedwiclr application, above mentioned, is tor the shaping of can bodies into r cylindrical form that have initially been made in relatively fiat cross sectional form, and the present invention deals with certain body spreading devices applicable to machines of the Sedwick type, to insure proper and easy loading of the flattened bodies onto the shaping mandrels of the machine.

The Sedwick machine, briefly described, includes a magazine within which the flat can bodies are placed and from which they are fed, one at a time, to the machine to be shaped thereby into cylindrical form. A turret, mounted for intermittent rotative movement about a horizontal axis, is provided with a series of collapsible mandrels and the can bodies are successively slid onto the mandrels from the magazine during periods of rest of the turret. Advance'movements of the turret carry the can bodies from the loading station to a bumping station, and during the rotation between these stations, the mandrel is expanded thereby to change the flat can body into substantially cylindrical form. In the region of the side edges of the flattened can body the metal, due to the relatively sharp bend, is slightly out of true cylindrical shape and the can body is therefore brought to the bumping station where dies engage the body on the mandrel in the region of the side edge portions of the flattened can body to change these portions into true cylindrical shape conforming to the cylindrical shape of the designed can body.

The turret remains stationary while the can body is being bumped. The turret then carries the mandrel to the discharge station and while it is moving from the bumping station to the discharge station the mandrel is coliapsed so as to permit the can body to be readily removed there from and automatically stripped from the mandrel and discharged from the machine.

In the Sedwick machine, each of the shaping mandrels consists of two complemental jaws, or

1932, Serial No. 690,331

sections, pivotally mounted and adapted to be closed together to provide a sort of wedge like device over which a flattened can body may be pushed so that when the jaws are opened apart the body will be cylindrically shaped thereby. Difliculty has been experienced in the Sedwick machine in its operation on cans that are quite flat for the reason that the cans do not readily feed onto the expansible jaws of the mandrel. Sometimes a side wall of the fiat body enters between the jaws, or mashes against the ends thereof and thus jams occur in the machine that necessitate its being stopped and cleared. Therefore, it has been the principal object of the pres-' ent invention to provide a pair of movable wedges, or spreaders, operating in synchronism with the body feed members, and adapted to be projected into the forward end of eachvflattened body as it is fed to its forming mandrel, thus to spread the side walls of the body apart sufiiciently for an easy and proper loading of the body onto the jaws of the mandrel and thus to avoid any possibility of jams or other difficulties in the feeding of the bodies onto the shaping mandrels.

Other objects of the invention reside in the various details of construction of the body spreading wedges, in their actuating mechanisms and in their mode of operation, as will hereinafter be described.

In accomplishing the objects of the invention, I have provided the improved details of construction, the preferred forms of which are illustrated in. the accompanying drawings, wherein- Fig. Us a side elevation of a machine in which the present invention is embodied, a part of the turretand housing being broken away for better illustration.

Fig. 2 is an end view of the machine.

Fig. 3 is an end view of a can body as formed flat.

Fig. e is an end view of the body as opened by onto the spreading wedges preparatory to its being loaded onto the shaping mandrel.

Fig. is a cross sectional view, on the line 1010 in Fig. 6, illustrating the manner in which the side walls of the can body are spread apart by entrance of the wedges.

Fig. 11 is an enlarged plan view of one of the wedges.

Fig. 12 is a section taken on the line 12-12 in Fig. 11.

Fig. 13 is a cross section taken on the line 13-43 in Fig. 11.

Referring more in detail to the drawings- The machine with which the present invention is embodied comprises a bed frame 1 in which a main operating shaft 2 is rotatably mounted. The shaft 2 is driven by a belt wheel 3 and is controlled by a suitable friction clutch 4 which is shifted by a lever 5. A link 6 connects the lever 5 with a dependent arm '7 on a rock shaft 8 and the latter is provided with hand levers 9 and 10, one at each side of the machine, whereby the operator, standing at either side, may shift the clutch to start or stop the machine. Mounted on the bed 1 is a supporting frame in which a turret 11 is rotatably mounted. The turret includes a center sleeve 12 mounted on a shaft 13 which is journaled in a bracket 14 at one end thereof and bracket 15 at the other end; these brackets being carried by the supporting bed, as seen in Fig. 1. The turret 11 is attached to the sleeve 12 and rotates with the shaft which is intermittently rotated by means of a Geneva stop motion including a wheel '16 attached to the shaft and having radial slots therein in which a roller 17, carried by a wheel 18 engages for turning the turret through one stop motion. The turret is held from rotating by locking wheel 19. Wheels 18 and 19 are carried by a stub shaft 20 to which is attached a gear 21. This gear 21 meshes with a gear 22 on the main actuating shaft 2.

The Geneva stop motion may be of any desired form, the essential feature being that the turret shall be rotated through a certain angular motion and then be brought to a standstill where it is held in fixed position while certain operations take place in the machine. The machine is designed to have a Geneva stop motion which rotates the turret through ninety degrees and then stops the turret.

Each of the can bodies B, as seen in Fig. 3 has a flattened shape in cross section. Two side walls b-b are substantially fiat and parallel. The edges are joined in a side seam, indicated at b and the side edge portions of the can body, as indicated at b b are sharply rounded.

In operation of the present machine, the flat can bodies are stacked in a hopper, or holder, 23 and are fed therefrom, one at a time, to the expanding mandrels, each of which forms a part of a shaping unit carried by the turret. There are four of these shaping units and all are similar in construction. Each unit consists of two outer sections 24 and 25 of a mandrel and they are pivoted, respectively, at 26 and 27 to the turret. A pair of springs 28 connected with pins 29 and 30 on the sections 24 and 25, respectively, normally presses the two sections together. Each section is provided with a tapered end 31 and these two tapered ends, when in contact with each other, as in Fig. 7, form a cone shaped entering end for directing the can body onto the mandrel. Each outer section is also provided with a roller 32 pivoted at 33 and so disposed as to project slightly beyond the inner face of the'section.

The mandrel is also provided with a center section 34 and this is provided with cam shaped end surfaces 3536. The center section lies between the two outer sections and when moved endwise between these two sections, the cam faces 35-36 will engage the rollers 32 of the outer sections of the mandrel and force the sections apart. The center section 34 of the mandrel and the outer sections 2425 are so shaped that when the center section 34 has been moved outwardly to expand the mandrel, together they produce a substantially cylindrical surface conforming to the inner cylindrical surface of the can body.

The inner end of the section 34 of the mandrel is forked and a link 41 is connected to a pin 42 passed through this forked end. At its inner end the link is mounted on a crank pin 43 carried by an arm 44. Mounted for rotation with the turret, is a sleeve 45 which is provided with four radially projecting hubs, each of which has a sleeve 46 with an arm 44 attached thereto. Also secured to each sleeve is a bevel gear 47 meshing with a fixed bevel gear 48 attached to the end bracket 14. As the turret rotates, the bevel gears 47 travelling on the stationary gear 48 will cause the crank arms 44 to turn through an angle of one hundred eighty degrees when the turret is moving from one stop position to the next stop position. Therefore, when the present unit is in the position indicated at the left in Fig. 2, the center section thereof has moved inwardly to its inner extreme position and the mandrel is collapsed. Then, when it has moved to the bottom position, the mandrel is fuily expanded to round out the body. Then, when it moves to the position at the right, in Fig. 2, it is again collapsed so that the cylindricaily shaped body may be withdrawn. The top position is an idle station.

The can bodies B, as noted above, are placed in the stack holder 23 which is positioned so that the lower end thereof is directly opposite the shaping unit at the left in Fig. 2. The turret comes to rest with the mandrel at this position and the mandrel is collapsed ready to receive a can body from the stack holder. The can bodies are stripped from the stack holder by a feed slide 49 reciprocally contained in a bracket 50 to move in a direction substantially in alignment with the axis of the mandrel and beneath the stack holder. The slide is moved back and forth by means of a shaft 51. carried in a bracket 52 fixed to the main frame and this shaft is provided at its lower end with a driving gear 53 meshing with a gear 54 on a cross shaft 55. The cross shaft carries a gear 56 which, in turn, meshes with a gear 57 on the end of the main shaft 2. On the upper end of shaft 51 is a cam wheel 58 to which one end of a link 59 is connected by a pin 60; the other end of the link being connected by a pin 61 to the outer end of the feed slide. Thus, with each. in ward reciprocal action of the feed slide, a can body B is fed thereby from the stack holder onto the collapsed sections or jaws of a shaping mandrel.

In order to facilitate the feeding of the flat bodies onto the conically tapered end of the mandrel, there is provided a pair of swinging wedges or spreaders arranged to enter between the side walls of the body adjacent the opposite side edges thereof; the location of these wedges being best disclosed in. Fig. 6. It will be observed by reference to this figure that guide rollers 6464 are which are grooved in such manner as to receive and hold the bodies in proper alignment for loading onto the mandrels. Mounted in the frame, slightly outside. and forwardly of these rollers, are vertical shafts 66-66, provided at their lowor ends with bevel gears 6"l-6'7 which mesh with gear segments 6868 fixed on a cross shaft 69 rotatable in the frame. This cross shaft has a rocker arm '70 fixed to one end thereof, and this arm is connected by a link '71 with the upwardly extended arm 72a of a bell crank 72 mounted by a pivot bolt 74 in a bracket 75. The bracket 75 is fixed to the frame structure adjacent the cam wheel 58. The bell crank comprises also a hori- Zontal arm 72b mounting a roller '76 which follows within an encircling groove '77 of the cam wheel. At one side of the wheel the groove has a downward offset, as at 77c which. operates, with each rotation of the cam, to rock the bell crank in such way as to cause a partial rotation of the cross shaft 69, which in turn, through the gear segments 68-68 and gears 6'7-67 rotates each of the vertical shafts 66-66 through one fourth turn and then back.

On the upper ends of the shafts 66--66 are the can body spreading wedges 80--80, each of which comprises a shank portion 80s with a laterally turned hook portion 8013-. When at rest, these wedges assume the dotted line positions of 'Fig. 6 out of the path of delivery of the bodies to the mandrels. The actuating mechanism for the can body spreading Wedges so synchronized with the feed slide that, as each body is moved forwardly by the slide from the lower end of the stack holder, the wedges swing inwardly so that as the body is advanced between the guide rolls, the end portions of the wedges swing into the open end of the body at the side edges, as clearly illustrated in Fig. 9.

It is to be observed, particularly by reference to Figs. 11 to 13 inclusive, that the end portions 80b of these Spreaders are of wedge form both in a cross sectional direction radially of theirmounting shafts and also in cross sectional planes perpendicularly to the radial lines, as seen in Figs.

12 and 13 respectively. Therefore, they are adapted to easily enter the end of a can body. It is also significant that these wedge like ends enter the flattened body closely adjacent the side edges b which, by reason of the definitely formed bend in the body, prevents closing together of the side walls at these entrance points. Thus, the hooks may enter at these places without interf rence with the can walls, and as they enter, their wedge form effects the spreading apart of the side walls as seen in Fig. 10. Then as the can body continues to advance, under influence of the feed slide, the spreaders swing outwardly at a faster speed than the forward movement of the can body so that immediately after passage of the opened can body onto the conically tapered end of the mandrel, the hook like. ends clear themselves from the body and permit it to be advanced onto the mandrel.

After a body l3 has been thus placed on a mandrel, as seen in Fig. '7, then the turret turns through an arc of ninety degrees which brings the mandrel having received the body to the bumping station, and during this movement the mandrel is expanded due to the advance movement of the center portion of the mandrel between the pivoted sections as previously described.

The bumping of the body is then accomplished by two dies 94 and 95 between which the mandrel is positioned. The bumping die 94 is carried at the upper end of a rod 96 reciprocally movable in the frame and connected at its lower'end by a link 97 to an eccentric 98 on shaft 2. The die 95 is carried by a bracket 103 rigidly attached to a rod 10%, reciprocally movable in the frame, and is actuated by an eccentric 106 on shaft '2. The two eccentrics are so timed that, when the man drel reaches a position between them, the dies are actuated against the side edges of the body to cause them to conform in shape to the outer surface of the mandrel.

After the body has been bumped, the turret is then turned through another angle of ninety degrees and while passing through this angular movement, the mandrel is collapsed by the retraction of the central section, thus to release the body for removal from the mandrel, this being done by mechanism not herein described, as it forms no part of the present invention.

The advantages to be gain-ed by the use of the spreaders is that the bodies can be easily fed onto the mandrels; jams are avoided; and no bodies are injured or damaged in the feeding op eration.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new therein and desire to secure by Letters-Patent is-- 1. In a can body shaping machine, a body shaping mandrel, means for loading a can body of substantially flat cross sectional shape endwise onto the mandrel, means movable into the can body from the end first to be passed onto the mandrel to thereby spread and retain the side walls thereof apart at that end for entrance of the mandrel and out of the can body aft-er entrance onto the mandrel.

2. In a machine for shaping can bodies, in combination, a mandrel having a tapered end, means for advancing a can body of substantially flat cross sectional shape endwise onto the tapered end of the mandrel, and means, movable into the end of the body first to be applied to the mandrel, and prior to its movement onto the mandrel for spreading the side walls of the body apart at that end for reception of the tapered end of the mandrel and out of the cam body after entrance onto the mandrel.

3. In a machine for shaping can bodies, in combination, a mandrel having a tapered end, means for advancing a can body of substantially flat cross sectional shape endwlse onto said mandrel over its tapered end and means movable into and from the end of the can body first applied to the mandrel to spread and retain the side walls thereof apart as the body is applied to the mandrel and out of the can body after entrance onto the mandrel.

4. In a machine for shaping can bodies, in combination, a mandrel having a tapered end, means for advancing can bodies of fiat cross sectional shape endwise onto the mandrel over its tapered end, devices movable into the end of the body first to be appiie to the mandrel and at opposite sides thereof to spread and retain the side walls of the body apart while it ismoved onto the tapered end of the mandrel and out of the can body after entrance onto the mandrel.

5. In a machine for shaping can bodies, in combination, a mandrel having a tapered end, feed mechanism for moving can bodies of substantially flat cross sectional shape endwise onto the mandrel over its tapered end, body spreading devices and actuating means therefor synchronized in aovement with the said body feed mechanism for moving said devices into the ends of the bodies first to receive the mandrel to spread the side walls thereof apart for application tothe mandrel and movable out of the bodies after entrance of the mandrel.

6. In a machine for shaping can bodies, in combination, a mandrel having a tapered end, a reciprocable feed mechanism for moving a can body of substantially flat cross sectional form endwise onto the mandrel over its tapered end, a pair of swingingly movable wedges and means synchronized with the action of the feed mechanism for actuating said wedges into the forward end of the body as it is moved to the mandrel to spread the side walls of the body apart for application to the mandrel and for then swinging the wedges clear of the body as it is moved onto the mandrel.

7. In a can body shaping machine, in combination, a stack holder for can bodies of substantially flat cross sectional form, a mandrel having a tapered end, a feed mechanism operable to move the can bodies, one at a time, from the holder onto the mandrel over its tapered end, body spreading wedges located at opposite sides of the path of travel of the bodies from the holder to the mandrel, means synchronized with the body feed mechanism for actuating said wedges into the forward end of a body, at opposite sides thereof as it is advanced to the mandrel thereby to spread the side walls of the body apart for entrance of the mandrel into the body between the wedges, and for then swinging the wedges forwardly and clear of the body for its advancement onto the mandrel.

8. In a machine for shaping can bodies, a stack holder for can bodies of substantially flat cross sectional form, a body shaping mandrel having a tapered end, a driven shaft, a cam wheel fixed thereon, a feed slide, a link operatively connecting the wheel and slide whereby the latter is reciprocally actuated to feed cans from the holder onto the mandrel over its tapered end, a pair of body spreading wedges located at opposite sides of the path of travel of the bodies to the mandrel, a supporting shaft for each wedge, a gear fixed to each haft, a rock shaft, gear segments on the rock shaft meshing with said gears, a rockor arm on the rock shaft, and a bell crank actuated by said cam and connected with said rocker arm whereby said wedges are actuated in synchronism with the feed slide, to enter the forward ends of said can bodies as they are delivered to the mandrel to spread the side walls for entrance of the mandrel, then to swing them clear of the body as it is pushed onto the mandrel.

9. A machine for shaping can bodies comprising a rotatably mounted turret, a plurality of body shaping mandrels mounted by the turret, a stack holder for can bodies of substantially flat cross sectional form, a main drive shaft whereby the turret is intermittently rotated, a shaft driven by the main shaft, a cam wheel fixed on the second shaft, a feed slide, a link operatively connecting the wheel and slide whereby the latter is reciprocated to feed the can bodies, one at a time, onto the mandrels as brought into position by the intermittent advance movements of the turret, a pair of body spreading wedges located at opposite sides of the path of travel of the bodies to the mandrels and means synchronized with the feed mechanism f or actuating the wedges to enter each body as it is advanced to spread the side walls thereof apart for loading onto the mandrel.

' MERTON L. DODGE. 

